The Essential Guide to Twin Cities Restaurants

Crystal Grobe is a local food writer who loves trying out new restaurants to gain inspiration for cooking in her own kitchen. She loves Minnesota and is always on the go in search of new foods, events, music, and friends with her husband, Ryan. Find more of her work on Café Cyan and Bite of Minnesota, where she blogs for WCCO.

There are not many restaurants that I have frequented as much as I have frequented OM. When the news came last year about an Indian restaurant opening in downtown Minneapolis, I got really excited. From the food to the décor, OM is stunning. The upper level offers both a bar and a brightly upholstered lounge area perfect for people watching. As you head downstairs, a large glass chandelier takes center stage as it descends into a pool of water.

Chef and cookbook author, Raghavan Iyer, was brought in to create the menu and did an amazing job. Being from India himself, he truly understands the complex flavors of the regions and how to layer those flavors in each of his dishes. Having tried most everything on the menu, I recently took a few friends to OM to revisit my favorites and try a couple new items.

Starting with the Mumbai Crackers, we popped these bite -sized crackers into our mouths just as they do on the streets of Mumbai. Hitting our tongues were a contrast of spicy/savory and sweet/tart along with significant crunch from potato, red onion, and the crackers themselves.

We also tried a new menu item, Tapioca Pearl Fritters. Bites of ginger, chile and peanuts are fried and topped with a coconut-sesame seed sauce. While the fritters can stand on their own, they were enhanced by the bed of crunchy slaw they were served upon. Both filling and refreshing at the same time.

I always order a bowl of Cardamom Thai Chile at OM as it is incredibly satisfying thanks to the blended cashews. Just spicy enough from the pureed chiles and cardamom, and mellowed by the yogurt and paneer, I have significant cravings for this soup on a regular basis.fried rice.

Our server was generous enough to provide a sample of the Buttermilk Okra soup and while I'm not usually a fan of okra, this soup was surprisingly good. The smoky okra was pureed in cream and buttermilk and seasoned with slightly bitter fenugreek to make for a hearty soup.

If you like spicy flavors, the Red Chile-Vinegar Shrimp Salad is a great pick. Large shrimp were coated in a fiery red chile and vinegar paste and served with sweet raisin vinaigrette and mixed greens to put out the fire.

My dining companion raved about the Tandoori Cornish Game Hen so much that I had to try a few bites and I really liked it. The hen was marinated in yogurt and spices rendering it incredibly tender. The fenugreek sauce was rich and buttery making the dish an indulgent treat. A hint of spice catches you by surprise just at the back of your throat and gets you thinking about all the components that make this dish work.

Another new menu item is the Coconut Shrimp Curry, a hearty serving of large shrimp coated with fennel, cardamom and chiles poached in coconut milk. Again, the complexity of spices made this a well thought out dish full of flavor and spice. I was thrilled to see a mound of mildly seasoned vegetables on the plate to make me feel a little healthier after the rich coconut milk.

One of my favorite menu items is the Grilled Saffron Paneer. If you don't know, paneer is an Indian cheese. Actually, it's India's only cheese and has a texture similar to water packed tofu. At OM, grilled paneer is topped with a sweet and spicy sauce of red chiles and raisins and garnished with crunchy green onions, peanuts and slightly tart raspberries. Taking a bite of everything, it's a flavor explosion in your mouth and your mind tries to concentrate on each individual flavor.

For me, an Indian meal is not complete without naan bread and OM has the best Green Chile & Potato Naan. Grilled in the tandoor at high heat, brushed with clarified butter and dusted with salt, it is impossible to resist. Both orders were inhaled so quickly that I forgot to snap a picture. Don't let the green chile deceive you as the naan is surprisingly mild. The spice comes from the house-made mango pickle served with the naan which is equally addicting. A traditional condiment in India, this is also a must-try item.

Dessert options at OM are plentiful. The Alfonso Mango Cheesecake and Chocolate Nirvana are highly recommended depending on if your palate appreciates fruity flavors or chocolate flavors. Also recommended are the Cardamom Doughnuts that our server graciously split for us. A cardamom spiced doughnut is drenched in a sweet honey-like sauce and served with a pistachio packed scoop of ice cream from Sebastian Joe's. Our table could barely mutter a word as we dreamily ate this dessert.

While the food is outstanding, so are the cocktails. For beauty in a glass, go for the Amber martini where pureed mango floats atop crème de cassis. For spice lovers, the Agni is your best bet, but too fiery for my Minnesota palate. As a margarita lover, I cannot resist the Kashmir Margarita, but have been known to interchange that for the Slumdog from time to time.

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